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Sorry for the gap in blogging but the two of us have been busy catching up with old friends of mine (and meeting new people too) so there’s been little time for blogging. Plus, we’ve had one day where the weather changed to glorious sunshine so we kicked back and spent most of our time by the hotel pool, making the most of it before the rains returned – which they did – with a vengeance! It’s not that it rains all day, every day, but we’ve had some spectacular thunder and lightning storms with torrential downpours to accompany them. Then, everything dries up and the heat and humidity make a return. Having such variable weather’s actually rather nice. It gives you a break from temperatures that hover around 31-32 degrees and sunshine that’s really intense – especially when you’ve come from the UK where we’ve had such a miserable summer that we’ve not had chance to catch much of a tan.

Here’s a small selection of pictures of life in Ubud.

Not a sign that you’re likely to see in many places, but then – this is Monkey Forest Rd!
Yes guys, that sign means you! These critters have spread beyond the confines of the forest with one troupe taking up residence in a half finished multi-story building, from which they raid the surrounding area.
Needless to say, the monkeys are represented in local art and sculpture like this…
Moneky Forest Rd is one of the main North-South streets in Ubud and it gets incredibly busy at times. Here it is during a quieter moment.
These scooter-based food stalls aren’t as common as they once were in central Ubud (compared to less touristy towns) but they still provide a service of cheap eats to the people who work in shops around town.
The band – again! We went out again on Monday night to catch the guys playing at a place down the road from where we’re staying. Only this time I took the camera…
We passed this gathering of the local men earlier today. I’ve no idea what it was about but it lasted for several hours.
Another old friend I had time to catch up with at his cafe (Maha on Monkey Forest Rd) was Putu Sukalawa. It’s as if I’d never been away…
How’s this for a splash of colour? Some of the guys from the local Vespa scooter club.
Mingling at Mingle cafe on Jalan Dewisita. A great place to sit and have a coffee (or something stronger) and watch the world go by.
Needless to say we’ve not been slow in trying various local Indonesian dishes. Here’s a Nasi Campur, which is different to the standard Nasi Goreng in that it contains sweetcorn and comes with a sliced omlette and chicken satay.

Tomorrow we take a break from Ubud to spend a couple of nights in Padangbai, which is a little town on the coast. It’s the port for ferries between Bali and Lombok, but it also has a couple of really nice little beaches. Oh, and great seafood! Expect updates from there…

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